Canada hopes to sink visiting Spain in Davis Cup

VANCOUVER — La Armada Invencible were sunk on the weekend by the Czech Republic in the 2012 Davis Cup final in Prague, but with the injured Rafael Nadal potentially back on board, can Canada avoid being swamped by powerhouse Spain at UBC in February?

“It’s an immense challenge,” Canadian captain Martin Laurendeau conceded Monday at a news conference confirming that that the first-round World Cup tie between the two countries will be played at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

“We’re facing the best team in the world. (But) a lot of things can happen and our team is getting better and wiser and a good mix of experience and youth. If you’re going to choose between playing Spain in Spain or here, we’ll take it any day.

“We feel we can be competitive against any team indoors. That’s where we’re best at and when we can play our best tennis, it can be done.”

The top-seeded and ridiculously talented Spaniards have won the Davis Cup four times since Nadal arrived on the scene in 2004 and been in the final four of the past five years, winning in 2008, 2009 and 2011 before losing 3-2 to the Czechs this year.

Nadal, the 11-time Grand Slam champion and 21-1 in Davis Cup singles since 2004, didn’t play in any of Spain’s three matches in 2012, saying he wanted to focus on Grand Slams and the Olympics.

But he hasn’t played a match since injuring his knee in an opening-round match at Wimbeldon in June, although he recently started hitting balls again with an eye towards playing in the Australian Open in January.

“Whether Nadal is here or not, Spain has tremendous depth,” said Laurendeau of a country that can roll out David Ferrer, currently ranked No. 5 in the ATP rankings, No. 11 Nicolas Almagro and four other players in the top 42.

“They’ve got players that can play at altitude, on clay, indoors, outdoors. They’ve got righties, lefties, they’ve been in four finals in the last six years, we’re going to have our work cut out.”

Canada can counter with Thornhill, Ont.,’s Milos Raonic, who has climbed to No. 13 in the world rankings, but then it’s a big dropoff to Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil (126th) and Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont. (135th).

Both Raonic and Pospisil were just 21 when they faced France last February at UBC in Canada’s first appearance in the World Group in some time. Raonic beat Julien Benneteau, but even with veteran doubles specialist Daniel Nestor in the lineup, Canada lost the tie 4-1.

Canada, currently ranked No. 12 in the Davis Cup rankings, retained its World Group spot with a 4-1 victory over South Africa in Montreal in September.

“France had tremendous depth, (but) we were alive going into Sunday with two guys who were 21 years old,” said Laurendeau. “One year is a big amount of time to see a lot of progress.”

He said Pospisil, in particular, learned a lot by experiencing the pressure of playing Davis Cup in front of a family and friends and a home crowd that desperately wanted him to pull out a win.

“He’s got that out of the way and he’s got that to feed on.”

Laurendeau says one of the key issues will be health. In February, Raonic pulled out of the Day 3 reverse singles with a slight knee injury.

Laurendeau says despite the appearances of a David vs. Goliath matchup with the Spaniards, he still thinks his squad has got a shot given Canada is at home, indoors on a fast, hardcourt surface.

And if the crowd, which will in the 6,500 range with the addition of 1,400 more seats, is as boisterous as it was for the tie with France, that will help.

“When we play at home, we need all the advantages we can get. We can play with the court speed, we can play with the surface and the balls we choose, but ultimately, if we’re going to beat a team like Spain or France, we’re going to need the fans behind us like it’s the seventh game of an NHL playoff (series).”

Nadal said in a conference call last month that Spain will have “a lot of respect for Canada.

“Spain has a great team, but Canada, yes, has a strong team, especially on the surface they’ll have to play. Especially with Raonic, with Pospisil, with Nestor. It’s going to be a difficult confrontation for the Spanish team.”

Gavin Ziv, Tennis Canada’s director of national events, said Vancouver’s successful staging of last February’s tie with France sparked interest from several cities to host the tie with Spain. Vancouver ultimately beat out Calgary and Winnipeg.

The winner of the February tie will move on to face the winner of Italy-Croatia.

BASELINES: Laurendeau says the 40-year-old Nestor will definitely play against Spain. “He lives for Davis Cup and the Grand Slams.” . . . Canada has faced Spain only one other time in Davis Cup, losing 4-1 in a World Group first-round tie in Murcia, Spain, in 1991 . . . Tickets for the Feb. 1-3 tie will go on sale Dec. 3 . . . the B.C. government has provided aa $100,000 hosting support grant to Tennis Canada . . .

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